While the Hague Tribunal ruling against China on its territorial claims in the South China Sea was loudly endorsed by US officials, American diplomats are cautioning their allies in the region, including the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia, not to rush to try to press those claims overtly against China.
The Philippines was the one who won the Tribunal case, which ruled they had certain fishing and energy exploration rights China had contested. Vietnam was said to be interested in filing a quick case of their own against China to cash in on the previous ruling.
At the same time, China and Taiwan are both spurning the ruling, and China has vowed to defend its interests in the Sea. They accused the US of “stirring up trouble” in backing such efforts against them, and indeed the US has made a habit of backing everybody’s claims in the South China Sea so long as they intersect with China’s claims.
The State Department appears to believe that a quick push against China is more likely to lead to a military confrontation, and with the US confirming it is obliged by treaty to back the Philippines’ claims militarily, they clearly want to avoid that.
Rather, the idea seems to be that using the Tribunal as a jumping off point, the US intends to spend some time selling the ruling as the de jure reality before trying to make it a de facto one, in hopes that China will eventually be dissuaded from pushing the matter.
They accused the US of “stirring up trouble”…
This corrupt regime in Washington DC has managed
to alienate just about everyone on the planet.
That’s just plain silly. Obama has done everything humanly possible to stop US wars, against huge odds that are literally unstoppable. The proof of that is in Syria and Iran where Obama allowed the peace process to work. Against the wishes of the US in general whose hands were tied.
Obama, Putin, and Assad cooperated marvelously well on fulfilling the demands of Obama’s red line. And the Obama admin, due to Obama’s leadership allowed the nuclear deal with Iran to succeed. No wonder nearly the entire country is screaming bloody murder at Obama for selling out to Iran. No bloody wonder that plans are already in full progress on getting out of the Iran deal and then trying to get the PNAC planned war back on track!
What an uppity traitor to your country EH?
luv from Canada.
With respect; in 2013, the Obama administration had spouted the same rhetoric about Syria possessing WMDs as the Bush regime, when he lied the USG into a bogus war that destroyed Iraq. We see what a disaster that is today.
Kerry, like the Bush thugs, claimed he had evidence that Assad had used chemical weapons. Though there was no direct evidence, this was the concocted excuse the Obama administration would use to conduct a brutal air attack on Syria.
3 million USG citizens, including myself, friends at Code Pink, Move-On, and veterans from Bush’s 2003 Iraq debacle held peaceful protests against another Iraq. It was only after the people spoke out did the administration back off its plan to bomb Syria.
However, I do commend President Obama and Mr. Kerry who stood up against the Zionist lobby in Congress, and supported the Iran Deal.
EME
Philadelphia, PA
P.S. Obama and the Dems will be in our fair city in about a week or so.
“the idea seems to be that using the Tribunal as a jumping off point, the US intends to spend some time selling the ruling as the de jure reality before trying to make it a de facto one, in hopes that China will eventually be dissuaded from pushing the matter”
No, I think the US sees this for the propaganda stunt it is. It was a default judgment, a process in which China did not participate, in which China’s interests and arguments were not even acknowledged. It was a stunt.
An actual international decision must begin with acceptance of the process by those who are to be bound by it. Otherwise, it is just a diplomatic demarche used to “justify” and declare whatever one side is determined to do.
The US got what it wanted, political point scoring, and now does not want it taken seriously by those who might for the US to live up to its rhetoric.
Just abrogate the Mutual Defense Treaty with the ingrate Philippines, like we did with the much more reliable ally, Taiwan./